WHY IS SINJAR IMPORTANT?

With the ISIS gangs' assault on Sinjar, the attacks on the Kurdish people in Rojava have gained a new dimension.

ISIS SEEKS NEW FRONT OF ATTACKS ON ROJAVA

By capturing Sinjar, ISIS wants to open a corridor through Tal Afar in order to create a new front for attacks on Rojava.

After taking Mosul, ISIS gangs launched attacks on Kobanê and Hesekê and then attacked Sinjar in South Kurdistan.

Sinjar is one of the disputed regions that comes within the framework of article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution.

Sinjar has a population of around 30,000, the majority Yezidi Kurds, and is also home to Shia and Sunni Arabs and hundreds of Syriac Christians.

Sinjar is approximately 100 km from the Til Kocher (Ya'rubiyya) border crossing, which is opposite the Rabiah district which has been under attack from ISIS gangs for some time.

This area is to the north of Sinjar on the border with Syria. To the east of Sinjar is the Turkmen city of Tal Afar, which was taken by ISIS after it had seized Mosul.

Geographically, Sinjar is some distance from Federal Kurdistan. The nearest city is Duhok, about 200 km away.

Sinjar is close to the Iraq-Syria border. Links between the Yezidi areas of Khanesor and Sinune and the district centre of Sinjar are obstructed by Jebel (mount) Sinjar, making it difficult for Yezidis to go to the aid of those in the district centre.

In the event of ISIS gangs taking over the whole of Sinjar, ISIS would have control of a broad area from Mosul through Tal Afar as far as Rojava. This would mean ISIS gangs being able to step up their attacks on Rojava by conveying arms, ammunition and fighters through this corridor.